No game this week, as previously mentioned, but we did have a summer jolly last night (Saturday) and got drunk to the early hours on the morning in our cowboy and indian themed party.
During the drunk preceedings we think we maybe have recruited a new player with the lure that we dont just play fantasy and science fiction, but horror games like Vampire.
Oddly enough I passed it off as drunk ramblings, but today I have received 2 phone calls from people saying they want in on a Vampire game. Who am I to disappoint, but there is the small matter of MERP to finish first.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
MERP, Holiday and Hawkwind (Starblazers)
An odd mix to talk about, but there you go.
The MERP campaign has finished it's first "book". They have discovered a growing plot in the north, specifically around Angmar and are about to travel to Rivendell for a meeting of great minds. Yes its full of cliches but the players are loving it.
Im off for 3 weeks to Corfu, its my first holiday of the year, and I intend (apart from spending copious amounts of time with my wife) to read 2 or 3 books whilst on the beach. Rumbling through my unread collection (which is shocking despite having not bought any books for almost 5 years) I think Im going to settle on 3 books - 2 fantasy, and 1 sci-fi. I havent made my mind up and it may yet change.
Still very excited about the Starblazers RPG, and been listening to my version of the Rock n Roll soundtrack to go with the game. Hawkwind - Master of the Universe album. Very prog/space rock, totally incoherent and derided, but to me Hawkwind used to make the kind of noise which goes perfectly with the space opera style that Starblazer would expect.
The MERP campaign has finished it's first "book". They have discovered a growing plot in the north, specifically around Angmar and are about to travel to Rivendell for a meeting of great minds. Yes its full of cliches but the players are loving it.
Im off for 3 weeks to Corfu, its my first holiday of the year, and I intend (apart from spending copious amounts of time with my wife) to read 2 or 3 books whilst on the beach. Rumbling through my unread collection (which is shocking despite having not bought any books for almost 5 years) I think Im going to settle on 3 books - 2 fantasy, and 1 sci-fi. I havent made my mind up and it may yet change.
Still very excited about the Starblazers RPG, and been listening to my version of the Rock n Roll soundtrack to go with the game. Hawkwind - Master of the Universe album. Very prog/space rock, totally incoherent and derided, but to me Hawkwind used to make the kind of noise which goes perfectly with the space opera style that Starblazer would expect.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Life after MERP
So whats next on the GM front?
Well, we have L5R all ready from our other GM, which I believe is going to be a double barrel campaign, i.e. he is going to be combining 2 adventures into 1.
This suits me fine as it gives me more time to canvas for whats next and give me time to develop some ideas.
Off the top of my head;
Werewolf: Dark Ages - I need to finish off the 3rd part in my time-travelling trilogy.
MERP - I'm sure the guys wont let this game disappear, as they all seem to be having a blast.
Deadlands - this one kinda died because of 2 players who didnt like the system or the world. Of the remaining players, they all loved it. Of the 2 players who didnt like the game, 1 has left and the other is an infrequent attendee.
And as for new games, well there is Hollow Earth Expedition a pulpy action game that manages to merge every element of the genre I love. And then there is the very new Starblazers RPG, a space opera RPG I have been anticipating for a year or so now.
I am sure there are others, like RuneQuest, a game I had prepared before MERP took over, that Id like to run, say a Big Rubble/Pavis game.
Well, we have L5R all ready from our other GM, which I believe is going to be a double barrel campaign, i.e. he is going to be combining 2 adventures into 1.
This suits me fine as it gives me more time to canvas for whats next and give me time to develop some ideas.
Off the top of my head;
Werewolf: Dark Ages - I need to finish off the 3rd part in my time-travelling trilogy.
MERP - I'm sure the guys wont let this game disappear, as they all seem to be having a blast.
Deadlands - this one kinda died because of 2 players who didnt like the system or the world. Of the remaining players, they all loved it. Of the 2 players who didnt like the game, 1 has left and the other is an infrequent attendee.
And as for new games, well there is Hollow Earth Expedition a pulpy action game that manages to merge every element of the genre I love. And then there is the very new Starblazers RPG, a space opera RPG I have been anticipating for a year or so now.
I am sure there are others, like RuneQuest, a game I had prepared before MERP took over, that Id like to run, say a Big Rubble/Pavis game.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Burning Sands - The L5R Game they have been promising for years...
According to the Leisure Games website AEG have finally gotten their finger out of their asses and will be publishing This.
Legend of the Burning Sands is the add-on game which was heavily featured in the L5R Collectible Card Game, but got overlooked when it came to making it a role-playing game.
Certainly it was the lure of playing something akin to Arabian Nights and all of its derivative genre, whilst maintaining the system of L5R and its ethos.
Definitely one to pre-order.
Edit 2014 - what a load of rubbish, a poorly fluff ridden book that added little to the game.
Legend of the Burning Sands is the add-on game which was heavily featured in the L5R Collectible Card Game, but got overlooked when it came to making it a role-playing game.
Certainly it was the lure of playing something akin to Arabian Nights and all of its derivative genre, whilst maintaining the system of L5R and its ethos.
Definitely one to pre-order.
Edit 2014 - what a load of rubbish, a poorly fluff ridden book that added little to the game.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Penultimate MERP Session
This Sunday sees the penultimate session of my MERP campaign before we head back to Legend of the Five Rings.
Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves as well as wanting to return to it.
One of the problems Ive battled with is maintaining the Tolkien feel of the game which on a personal level I think I have failed on. I canvas the players to get their opinions regularly as I often find out that my perception of how the game is going rarely matches up to the players opinion.
For instance, when I ran my 7th Sea game quite often Id have what I would class as a bad session and the players said they have a great time. And when I ran what I thought was a good session, they said that it was incredibly enjoyable.
With this MERP campaign I have sown seeds of foreshadowing and set up story elements for later in the story. Im pleased that 2 or 3 of the 5 players are keeping detailed notes, partly at my suggestion, but mostly because of the rich nature of the game there is a lot going on.
I have managed to get the players used to low atmospheric music, and candlelight to enhance the mood, as well as encouraging the players to not debate their actions for hours at a time, but rather to act. Because if they don't act then the enemies act anyhow. This way I found that the characters and heroes' nature comes out. That heroes leap into battle and defense of the weak, whilst cowards slink to the back.
Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves as well as wanting to return to it.
One of the problems Ive battled with is maintaining the Tolkien feel of the game which on a personal level I think I have failed on. I canvas the players to get their opinions regularly as I often find out that my perception of how the game is going rarely matches up to the players opinion.
For instance, when I ran my 7th Sea game quite often Id have what I would class as a bad session and the players said they have a great time. And when I ran what I thought was a good session, they said that it was incredibly enjoyable.
With this MERP campaign I have sown seeds of foreshadowing and set up story elements for later in the story. Im pleased that 2 or 3 of the 5 players are keeping detailed notes, partly at my suggestion, but mostly because of the rich nature of the game there is a lot going on.
I have managed to get the players used to low atmospheric music, and candlelight to enhance the mood, as well as encouraging the players to not debate their actions for hours at a time, but rather to act. Because if they don't act then the enemies act anyhow. This way I found that the characters and heroes' nature comes out. That heroes leap into battle and defense of the weak, whilst cowards slink to the back.
Friday, July 4, 2008
MERP - Bree Campaign
So this Sunday is the 3rd session in my fill-in MERP game. One of the players in the group has permanently has quit because he didn't like the way we chopped around the games too much.
Had I know he was going to quit (and the writing was on the wall weeks beforehand) I'd have gone back to Deadlands for a "season", a game which the departed player had immense dislike for.
As it stands now there is 7 of us, which is a lovely sized group, I think we have room for one more player, and I have my sights set on one guy in particular who has been out of the gaming scene for a few years.
Going back to MERP, because its the first time I've run it since the trilogy of films came out earlier this millennium, there are high levels of expectation both from me and the players. The hardest part of running MERP is not the looking up of tables and charts (a less bothersome task than when I ran Rolemaster), but rather keeping the feel and flavour of Tolkien's world. MERP is a game at odds with me as a GM because of the magic.
The magic rules for MERP really spoil the game, and trivial daily spell items and even 1st level spells can impact the game on a regular basis more so than Gandalf ever could dream of. The way I have found to reign in their wanton power is to have consequence. Everything they do has consequences.
You want to start pulling of magical powers? Fine, then the locals populace are going to be turning to YOU to solve their problems. The roving band of black orcs are looking at taming a part of Rhudaur , then they need to eliminate the problem "party" first.
Had I know he was going to quit (and the writing was on the wall weeks beforehand) I'd have gone back to Deadlands for a "season", a game which the departed player had immense dislike for.
As it stands now there is 7 of us, which is a lovely sized group, I think we have room for one more player, and I have my sights set on one guy in particular who has been out of the gaming scene for a few years.
Going back to MERP, because its the first time I've run it since the trilogy of films came out earlier this millennium, there are high levels of expectation both from me and the players. The hardest part of running MERP is not the looking up of tables and charts (a less bothersome task than when I ran Rolemaster), but rather keeping the feel and flavour of Tolkien's world. MERP is a game at odds with me as a GM because of the magic.
The magic rules for MERP really spoil the game, and trivial daily spell items and even 1st level spells can impact the game on a regular basis more so than Gandalf ever could dream of. The way I have found to reign in their wanton power is to have consequence. Everything they do has consequences.
You want to start pulling of magical powers? Fine, then the locals populace are going to be turning to YOU to solve their problems. The roving band of black orcs are looking at taming a part of Rhudaur , then they need to eliminate the problem "party" first.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
John Wick's Dirty Words
I am unashamedly a fan of John Wick (
wickedthought). Both as a GM and as a games designer. He is, afterall, responsible for 2 of my favourite role-playing games, 7th Sea and Legend of the Five Rings. He has also written Orkworld, a game which I treasure.
Well now he has started doing video blogs on youtube which he links to on his Livejournal account using the "Play Dirty" tagline. In it he gives out words of wisdom which I recommend to any GM. Yes he is opinionated, and some people have a real problem with him, but invest just 10 minutes and see if it is worth your time checking him out for the future.
John Wick - Play Dirty
wickedthought). Both as a GM and as a games designer. He is, afterall, responsible for 2 of my favourite role-playing games, 7th Sea and Legend of the Five Rings. He has also written Orkworld, a game which I treasure.Well now he has started doing video blogs on youtube which he links to on his Livejournal account using the "Play Dirty" tagline. In it he gives out words of wisdom which I recommend to any GM. Yes he is opinionated, and some people have a real problem with him, but invest just 10 minutes and see if it is worth your time checking him out for the future.
John Wick - Play Dirty
John Wick's Dirty Words
I am unashamedly a fan of John Wick (wickedthought). Both as a GM and as a games designer. He is, afterall, responsible for 2 of my favourite role-playing games, 7th Sea and Legend of the Five Rings. He has also written Orkworld, a game which I treasure.
Well now he has started doing video blogs on youtube which he links to on his Livejournal account using the "Play Dirty" tagline. In it he gives out words of wisdom which I recommend to any GM. Yes he is opinionated, and some people have a real problem with him, but invest just 10 minutes and see if it is worth your time checking him out for the future.
John Wick - Play Dirty
wickedthought). Both as a GM and as a games designer. He is, afterall, responsible for 2 of my favourite role-playing games, 7th Sea and Legend of the Five Rings. He has also written Orkworld, a game which I treasure.Well now he has started doing video blogs on youtube which he links to on his Livejournal account using the "Play Dirty" tagline. In it he gives out words of wisdom which I recommend to any GM. Yes he is opinionated, and some people have a real problem with him, but invest just 10 minutes and see if it is worth your time checking him out for the future.
John Wick - Play Dirty
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